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ECA VIMS DATA ISSUES

Last Updated: 27 -February-2018

Contents
Service Meter Hours >24 .............................................................................................................................. 2
VIMS data logger files being corrupted when downloaded from health interface module over a CAN
connection .................................................................................................................................................... 5
Assets Reporting Future Timestamp:............................................................................................................ 7
Assets sending 1KB Data logger Files ............................................................................................................ 8
Assets Sending files with Huge file sizes. Mostly Payload and Trend files ................................................. 10
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Service Meter Hours >24

Issue Description: This is an issue that predominantly occurs when a truck is

reportedly operating for more than 24 hours in a day which is practically impossible.
However, we have come across scenarios by looking into the real data and
discovered the fact that there a specific trucks for which we notice that there are dual
ranges of SMH operation between APP and MAIN modules of ECM (Engine
Control Module) on the truck. While APP module ECM reports Payload (PA) and
MAIN module reports other file types like Events, Trends and other possible VIMS
(Vital Information Management System), the general expectation is to see the same
range of operation between these two modules. Now, as mentioned previously, we
do come across scenarios where this is not common meaning we see two ranges of
SMH operation between Main and App module. Hence, the SMH > 24 hr issue.
To demonstrate the above, let’s use the below plot from one of the trucks that
reported this issue. Here, as shown in the plot, we see that on 13 th April, 2017, the
truck under consideration has begun its operation starting at the 1076 th hour of
operation and ended at 1092nd hour of operation meaning that it operated for 16 hours
in total on that day (i.e. on 13th April, 2017). However, we also know there were few
negative values between your start and stop hours of operation due to some
discrepancy. Now, this discrepancy upon deeper investigation was identified to be
an issue with the various ECM’s communication settings. It is believed that the APP
module ECM that reports PA data was perhaps configured to be the master (instead
of slave) ECM on top of the MAIN module ECM which is designed to be the master.
This discrepancy can lead to a scenario where APP module ECM does not sync with
MAIN module ECM. From the below two plots, it is seen that Trend data reported
by MAIN module is not in sync with Payload data reported by APP module.
Impact caused by this issue:
As one understands, SMH hours of operation is a crucial measure of any given
machine and can have undesired impacts if not rectified. To forecast the life of a
machine and/or to conduct any downstream consumer analyses which if uses the
SMH hour(s) as a key field of calculation can lead to incorrect or misleading insights.
Resolution Steps:
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This issue can be resolved if SMH offset between APP and MAIN module
values doesn’t deviate by too much. If the offset is closer (by say few hours), we can
sync them back together by performing a manual reset of ECM clock. However, if
the offset difference is on the higher end, it would require additional diagnosis to be
carried out to trace the communication route between different ECMs on the
machine, identify the root cause and then fix the issue.
Plot 1:
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Plot 2:
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VIMS data logger files being corrupted when downloaded from

health interface module over a CAN connection

Issue Description: This issue is a common occurrence on the machines running

on older HIM software versions. The data logger files become corrupt when
downloaded from HIM over CAN. Other file types downloaded subsequently
become corrupt as well. When data loggers are not being downloaded in frequent
enough intervals an increase in the size of the file occurs, causing it to be
corrupted.

Impact of the Issue: All the file types except Event files and Cumulative files
are being corrupted resulting in missing important data from the machine needed
for analysis.

Resolution steps: : The latest release of the HIM Software Version prevents
VIMS data logger files from corrupting when downloaded from HIM over a CAN
connection. This issue is addressed in the latest HIM software release v2.0.4. The
latest HIM version has an option to download data logger files every 15 minutes
and other file types as required. Setting the download of data logger files to every
15 minutes would prevent the corruption and resolve the issue. Please find the
HIM latest release notes in the link below.

https://sis.cat.com/sisweb/servlet/cat.cis.sis.PController.CSSISFTSS
ervlet
BY accepting the terms and conditions you will be directed to the main page.
Select Advanced Full Text Search to be directed to the below page where there is
an option to select the release notes .
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Directions:
Phrase- M0079820
Select Service Magazine

This is directed to below screen where the HIM latest release notes is available for
additional reference
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Assets Reporting Future Timestamp:

Issue Description: This issue is triggered when the file generated by VIMS box
is named with a future time inside the filename of the file. For example, if a file is
generated on 31st July, 2017, ideally the VIMS box should be generating a file with
the name as ABC00123170731153045.DL. Instead (whenever this issue triggers),
it’s generating the filename as ABC00123170831153045.DL (which is offset by 1
month).
Impact of the Issue: The files with this issue can’t be processed accurately for
conducting the necessary post-processing downstream analyses. This also means
that data inside these files remain unused for any useful analyses by the respective
consumers of this data. For example, if the data consumer is interested to conduct an
analysis over the date ranging between 25th Jul, 2017 and 31st Jul, 2017, the user will
not be able to use the file ABC00123170831153045.DL (which actually falls under
the specified time interval i.e. this file was originally generated on 31 st Jul, 2017)
because it doesn’t meet the time range criteria and any data inside that file won’t be
useful because the data is tied to data and timestamps.

Resolution steps:
a. If this issue is triggered on a machine running on previous versions of VIMS
software, the best recommendation is to upgrade the software to the latest
VIMS version to overcome the known issues with older software.
b. However, if the issue is triggered on the machine running on the current or the
latest software version of VIMS, it is suspected that it could have been
manually reset to an incorrect time in the future. Hence, it is advised to
manually reset the time on the ECM clock back to the current time using the
ET (Electronic Technician).
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Assets sending 1KB Data logger Files

Issue Description: This is an issue that predominantly occurs when a machine

is not configured to send good data logger files.
Impact of the Issue: As a result data logger files will not be downloaded from
the machine resulting in missing important information for performing analytics.
Resolution steps: Changing configuration setting on the machine will resolve
this issue
Screen shots: As shown in the below screen shot, legacy machines can be
configured to send good data logger files. Reset after every download is
recommended.
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Screen shots: As shown in the below screen shot, 3G machines need be

configured to send good data logger files. Reset after every download is
recommended.
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Assets Sending files with Huge file sizes. Mostly Payload and
Trend files.

Issue Description: This issue is triggered when the Trend file or Payload file is
not reset after every download. This creates duplicate records in the file and
increase in the file size. This issue is applicable for all file types and not limited to
Trend or Payload.
Impact of the Issue: As a result, we are seeing huge size files which has
duplicate data in it and takes longer time to process on our side thus adding extra
load on servers. There are also chances of file getting corrupted while transmission
due to poor site internet connectivity. Transmitting huge files can lead to increase
in transmission cost.
Resolution steps: This issue can be resolved by configuring the settings on the
machine. Reset after every download is recommended.
Screen shot: As shown in the below screen shot configuring reset after every
download will resolve this issue
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